Begin Again - A.I

twenty four

If last night did anything, it just made everything a million times worse. I thought I would wake up and know exactly what was going on between Ashton and I, I mean, we both liked each other. That was exciting! But things were just so much more awkward.

I had expected him to completely forget everything, or worse, not mean anything that he said. But he did. I knew he did, and I knew he knew that I knew that he knew. He remembered everything. Just like I did. And instead of talking about it, we hadn't said a word to each other all morning. In a way, I kind of wished he didn't remember, just so we wouldn't have to deal with things like this.

The boys were still here and so that made things, well, I didn't really know if that made things less or more awkward. Was Ashton waiting until they left? I feared the moment they would leave.

"Can someone tell me why I woke up on the roof this morning?" Michael stumbles into the kitchen, holding his head. "Did I sleep there all night?"

"Yup," Luke replies, sipping at his orange juice. "We decided to just leave you there," he says. "You seemed comfortable."

"My neck hurts." Michael groans.

I go up to get some more juice from the fridge when Ashton does the same. We awkwardly intercept each other at the door and he nervously smiles before stepping aside. I blush and look down. He fiddles with his fingers.

Oh, god.

It wasn't like I regretted what I had said, because it was the truth. There's just something so vulnerable about the person you like knowing that you like them. All your feelings are just out there in the open, floating around for all to see. Ashton had the power to control me, and that was kind of scary. He knew how I felt, so how would he deal with it? What if he didn't mean what he said? And that's why it was all awkward? Because he was embarrassed for me? Oh, god. Oh, god.

"You finished with the juice?"

There it was, the first words Ashton had spoken to me that morning. He had the power to say anything, and that's what he picked? You finished with the juice? You bet your damn ass I was, and I was damn ready to pour it all over his soft messy curls. 

"Sure." I hand him the carton and he takes it gratefully with a small smile.

"Thanks."

"No problem," I mumble, walking back to my seat.

"Who's up for the beach?" Luke asks around, shoving half a piece of toast into his mouth.

"No way." Ashton shakes his head, pointing at the others with a serious scowl. "You guys are spending the day with me helping to clean up."

The boys all groan in unison. 

"Aw, man," Michael cries. "That's totally uncool."

"Yeah. Ashton," Luke chimes in. "It's your mess, why we gotta clean it up?"

"Because, dick." Ashton walks past Luke and whacks him over the head, making Luke squeal. "You made half the mess, and if my mum comes home to find the house looking like this," he waves his arms around for effect, "then I will never be allowed to throw a party here again."

"You weren't allowed in the first place," Michael says. "So you'll just be double not allowed."

"Just grab a bag and start cleaning, dickheads."

-------

"I'd rather be at the beach," Luke mumbles, to who, I'm not sure. We were both working in the lounge, Michael in the kitchen, Calum outside, and Ashton in the rest of the house. We had all been cleaning for coming up two hours now and I could tell Luke a lot of places I'd also rather be.